Posted by Romeo Posadas on August 29, 2005:

Delivered by LTC Dencio S. Acop, USMA 1983, during the necrological service held on 26 August 2005 at Ft. Bonifacio, Philippines 26 August 2005 A Eulogy for Rene Jarque Julius Flores or Freddie Mison is supposed to be standing here now delivering this eulogy for Rene but since both are in the US, the task has become mine. The words that follow are Julius Flores' as they are mine. When we heard of Rene' s condition at a Jakarta hospital, we thought somehow he would fight his way through. The vibrancy and boundless determination with which he tackled everything in his life made this challenge seem surmountable. When Rene's loss finally sunk in, we simply couldn't believe that someone so young, so full of life, and with so much potential ... is gone ... and he is one of us. Today, we honor Rene Jarque and celebrate his life. Rene was my plebe at West Point and I was his Firstie. Curious to know who the new Filipino cadet was in 1982, I easily found Rene since he stood out as a model cadet. The academic year saw Rene put in "Old Corps" Company A-1 with his puny hair divided in the middle, while I remained in I-1 --- so we were in the same regiment, the First Regiment. Rene was an above average cadet. During the little time off the academy afforded him, we would travel around together along with Nap Taas and Julius Flores. We would travel as far south as Virginia where then Army Attache Colonel Narcing and Susan Abaya would welcome us. Rene was meek as a lamb then. He yet did not exhibit the fire that was to characterize his personality in later life. But even then, his already was the cheerful countenance and disposition, the infectious grin, and he knew how to strut and breakdance. Rene was a man of substance and character --- a true warrior who fought his battles from the jungles of the Cordilleras to the tangled maze of the politico-military bureaucracy. Idealistic, articulate, visionary, fearless, uncompromising, even stubborn --- Rene lived as he believed --- a life inspired by righteousness. Manifesting a clear sense of what is right or wrong, he had little patience for hypocrisy frequently challenging people to do the harder right than the easier wrong. He would quote Edmund Burke who wrote that "the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing". Rene actually fought our battles. Rene carried our aspirations. Armed with an uncanny ability to look at the facts and digest them into an unabashed assessment of what is real and what is right, Rene waged a crusade for righteousness that somehow made us feel hopeful that things would eventually work out for the better. With clarity of purpose, Rene epitomized Duty Honor Country --- those three hallowed words which reverently dictate what we ought to be - what we can be - what we should be. Arguing that our values and principles are non-negotiable whatever may be the cost, he did everything within his humanly existence to advocate such cause. He used his gift for writing whose products some of us are well aware of. Rene put forth everything we wanted to yell in frustration. Rene brought everything and anything to bear where injustice and wrongdoing existed. Rene shouted out things that we were too afraid, too complacent, or too discouraged to expose and fight for ourselves. Rene was called a "maverick", a "whistleblower", a "renegade". To think that the label "Renegade" contains his name seems almost propitious. Rene rattled the system all in the hope of making it come back leaner and stronger. He put people up to the challenge and pulled them out of their comfort zones. And if this challenge were to ruffle a few feathers, so be it, people could either stand down, retaliate, or seek to meet the challenge head on. In the mid-90s when Rene was with J5, he and Gay (who was still his girlfriend then) would occasionally drop by my quarters in Camp Aguinaldo and dine with us. In one such visit, Rene turned overly critical of the AFP that I admonished him reminding him that he was still a member of the organization. That did not quiet Rene for he shouted for reforms even louder. We can keep the memory of Rene alive by honoring his aspirations, after all these are not solely Rene's but those of the institutions which molded us. Moreover, there is a bit of Rene in each of us I think. To Rene's family, we know that our feelings of loss from Rene's sudden and untimely departure are nothing compared to your grief at this moment. To Gay and children Ryan, Maimai, and Hannah, Rene was truly a loving husband and a caring father. To General and Mrs Jarque, Rene was a model son and to JingJing and Melissa, a brother without par. To you all we are indebted for Rene's sacrifices as we are grateful for his leadership and example towards making this world a better place. We will miss Rene --- his ceaseless energy, his dry wit, his far-reaching intellect, his challenges, and we will miss that infectious grin and laughter. But Rene is in a better place now --- somewhere peaceful reserved only for him by God.

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